Black Box Recorder

23.9.03

Report: Israeli settlements cost over $550 million per year in non-military expenses

A Ha'aretz report has found that Israel has spent at least an extra $558 million (NIS 2.5 billion) annually in "non-military" outlays to maintain its illegal colonies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Since 1967, Israel has spent at least NIS 45 billion on its settlement project (this apparently is again the "non-military" costs). At today's exchange rate, that is more than $10 billion. The article does not provide any indication that it has adjusted for inflation, nor does it provide a dollar amount.

The article notes that this civilian service spending translates into annual surplus costs of more than NIS 10,000 per settler.

To be added to all of these costs are the expenses of building the Apartheid Wall inside the West Bank. Each mile will cost about $1 million.

It should be clear that the settlements and the Wall are permanent investments. They do not amount to negotiating tactics. They are strategic investments in Israel's hold over the West Bank. US taxpayers are more or less completely subsidizing this colonization and slow-motion ethnic cleansing.

On a related note, Colin "No Integrity" Powell has reiterated that the US will not be pressuring Israel soon on its settlement activity.

In my opinion, the only thing the Palestinians under occupation can do is drop their demand for an independent state and start demanding their equal rights as Israeli citizens. After having been subjected to Israeli rule, without representation, for 36 years, and since Israel is in the West Bank to stay, it's about time they had a say in how their lives are run.